Almost all Savar, Gazipur garment factories resume

Nearly all of the roughly 407 garment factories situated in the Ashulia area under Savar upazila and Zirabo and Zirani areas under Gazipur were operational yesterday after security measures were beefed up centring labour unrests.

Around 15 factories were kept shut by the owners, who also announced that they were implementing a "no work, no pay" clause under the labour law.

Workers at some of the factories have been staging demonstrations for more than 15 days over different benefits and allowances, such as higher night allowances, tiffin bills, attendance bonuses and incentives for achieving production targets.

They also want factory authorities to implement a four-month maternity leave and provide light work to expecting mothers in their fifth month.

Other demands include senior officials refraining from using abusive language in factories and an end to the arbitrary termination of workers by factory authorities. Furthermore, they want due benefits to be paid as per the law if an employee resigns.

No untoward incident was reported yesterday.

Workers at some of the factories have been staging demonstrations for more than 15 days over different benefits and allowances

"I am hopeful that the factories that remained shut will reopen from tomorrow [Monday]," Khandoker Rafiqul Islam, president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), told The Daily Star over the phone.

"Normalcy has been restored with improvements in law-and-order with the deployment of more police and army personnel," he said.

Law enforcers and labour leaders are holding talks for the reopening of the factories, which witnessed production losses over the last two months, firstly for the anti-discrimination student movement and subsequent labour unrest, Islam said.

The BGMEA has been assessing the loss of business during both periods.

Many factory owners will have to provide discounts and face order cancellations and expensive air shipments, he added.

AK Azad, chairman and executive officer of Ha-Meem Group, which has a garment factory at Ashulia, said his factory resumed operations from yesterday as law-and-order improved and workers rejoined their workplaces.

His factories were shut for 12 days in September and eight days in August because of the labour unrest and anti-discrimination student movement.

He is also assessing his losses and planning for recovery of the losses. His buyers have already expressed concern over the frequent unrests and production losses.

He said he has received a lesser amount of work orders from international retailers and brands targeting the upcoming winter season.

Normalcy has been restored at the garment factories and production is ongoing, said Md Towhidur Rahman, president of the Bangladesh Apparel Workers' Federation.

The factory owners should fulfil commitments made to workers during the labour unrest, he added.

Amirul Haque Amin, president of the National Garment Workers Federation, echoed the same.

"It is business as usual at the industrial zone," he said.

Bangladesh's garment sector has overcome much more critical times and it is expected that the production losses can be recovered, Amin added.

Nazma Akter, president of the Sammilito Garment Sramik Federation, said factory owners should meet the legitimate demands of the workers.

She said production fell by a substantial amount in the garment sector in July, August and September.

These three months comprise the peak season for the shipment of goods for the upcoming Christmas period as well as the peak season for booking work orders for next year's summer, autumn and winter seasons.

However, many senior officials of international retailers and brands cancelled business trips and work orders, delayed factory visits, sought big discounts or expensive air shipments.